Floriade’s new Pallet Pavilion

Wendy Johnson

They’ve popped up again.

The team at boyandgirlco, that is, but this time at Floriade with a ‘Pallet Pavilion’ and around 20 seats for the public, all made out of recycled wood.

The location for the pavilion is pretty specky. It’s under a beautiful pine tree, offering lots of shade if you need to get out of the sun for a bit and it has a lovely aspect, overlooking the lake by day and Nightfest by night.

“We deliberately chose the spot for its vantage point and possibilities,” says co-owner of boyandgirlco, Anita Krikowa. “We wanted to create a restful place, where people could sit and chat and have a break—a place that has an earthy feel to it and a pavilion that fits in naturally with the environment.”

This is the first time boyandgirlco has built something for Floriade. Planning the design and structure of the Pallet Pavilion took place over several weeks before building day arrived. “It was important to test the integrity and stability of the structure,” says Anita. “We ended up pre-making parts of it in our workshop and then replicating them on the site.”

Also transported in a truck to the Floriade site were about 90 standard European pallets which the team got stuck into, de-nailing and deconstructing them. Step one complete. Next was building the platform, which measures 8.4 metres by 4 metres. Step two complete. Then it was time to get going on the pavilion itself, which measures 2.4 metres high by 3.2 metres deep and approximately 2.6 metres across. Step four complete. boyandgirlco have also built about 20 seats for guests to Floriade to freely use, which are scattered around the pavilion. Project complete.

The new Pallet Pavilion is a perfect place to chill and have a coffee and a bite to eat or just relax and rest your weary legs if you’ve spent ages wandering around the flower beds.

How long did it take Anita and Carlo Krikowa (both co-owners), Katie McAuliffe (affectionately called Bookie) and Robert Bednarik to build this special spot onsite? “A day of concentrated effort and some pretty hard slogging,” says Carlo. “But we’re pleased with the result and believe it adds an interesting element to Floriade.”

boyandgirlco is a local company specialising in creating furniture, homewares and other goodies out of recycled materials, primarily unwanted pallets. The company’s philosophy is simple: reuse, recycle and lead a more sustainable, satisfying life. boyandgirlco’s product line has grown enormously and now includes standard pieces, custom designs and commercial installations, including for cafés, retail environments and art spaces. boyandgirlco now also operates an event furniture rental business. While boyandgirlco started by selling at markets and operating out of a small garage, today the company operates from a massive warehouse in Mitchell and a retail store in Braddon, at The Hamlet.

Floriade 2015 is on until Sunday 11 October. Pop by the Pallet Pavilion on your visit.

Wendy Johnson graduated with a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, a few decades ago. She’s been living in Australia since 1995, having fallen in love with eucalypt trees and kangaroos. Wendy is passionate about Canberra and all the nation’s capital has to offer. She loves to write (about everything and anything) and owns her own pr and advertising business. More about the Author

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